Filter cartridge with a lugged concentric closure portion

ABSTRACT

A filtering system for water treatment including a head member having inlet and outlet ports and replaceable, disposable filter cartridge for insertion into the head member, the filter cartridge including a dual lug retaining system for retaining the filter cartridge in the head member, one of said lug retaining systems being disposed on the pressure vessel of the filter cartridge and the other of said lug retaining systems being disposed on the closure member of the filter cartridge.

This is a continuation-in part-application of Ser. No. 257,338 for aFilter Cartridge with a Lugged Concentric Closure Portion filed on Oct.13, 1988, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,189.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a filtering system in which a disposable andreplaceable filter cartridge can be quickly inserted into and removedfrom a head member which is permanently mounted in a fluid conduit, andmore particularly to an improved filter cartridge which provides for amore secure installation in a filter head as well as providing acapability of allowing installation in different types of head members.

Filtering systems of the general type as described herein, are disclosedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,746,171 and 4,654,142 assigned to the same assigneeas this application. U.S. Pat. No. 3,746,171 discloses a filtercartridge which is secured in the mating head of a filter assembly bymeans of ridge formations formed on the canister of the filtercartridge. U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,142 discloses another style of filtercartridge which is secured in a head by lugs formed on a closure member.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A principal object of the invention is to provide an improved filterassembly by providing a stronger support for the filter cartridge in theassociated filter head member.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved means forsupporting a replaceable filter cartridge in a head member utilizingbayonet lugs on the filter cartridge pressure vessel and bayonet lugs onthe filter cartridge closure member.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved filtercartridge which may be secured into a plurality of differentlyconstructed head members utilizing one or the other or both of the lugsystems incorporated in the filter cartridge depending on the style offilter head being used.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparentwhen considering the accompanying description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the head member of a filter assemblyembodying the invention herein;

FIG. 2 is a side view in elevation of the head member of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view in elevation taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view in elevation of the head member of FIG. 1taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 1 together with a filter cartridgeinserted therein and held in place by a dual lug system;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view in elevation of a filter cartridge as shownin FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the head member of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the filter cartridge of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a view in elevation of the upper end of the filter cartridgeof FIG. 4 but rotated to a position 90 degrees from the position of thecartridge of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of another type of head member of a filterassembly;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view in elevation of the head member of FIG. 9taken along line 10--10 of FIG. 9 together with a filter cartridgedisposed therein and held in place only by the lug system disposed onthe closure member;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view in elevation of another style of head membershowing a filter cartridge embodying the invention disposed therein;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view in elevation of still another style of headmember showing a filter cartridge embodying the invention disposedtherein;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view in elevation of another type of head membershowing a filter cartridge disposed therein and held in place only bythe lug system disposed on the canister portion of the filter cartridge.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters refer tolike parts, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-6 a filter assembly 10includes a support member 12 for supporting a head member and a filtercartridge, a head member 14 secured to the support member and a filtercartridge 16 which is inserted into and secured in the head member.

The support member 12 includes a generally laterally extending platemember 18 and also may include a generally vertically extending integralportion 20 attached to the plate member 18. The portion 20 may bemounted to a wall or other supporting structure by suitable means suchas openings 22 for accepting a bolt or other fastening means to attachthe filter assembly to a supporting structure.

A circular opening 24 is formed in the laterally extending plate member18 for receiving therethrough the upper end of the filter cartridge 16.A pair of oppositely disposed bayonet openings 24a and 24b are connectedto the opening 24 for receiving therethrough corresponding bayonet lugsformed on the filter cartridge closure member as more fully explainedbelow. Ledges 25 formed by the edges of circular opening 24 providesupport for bayonet lugs formed on the closure member. Stop means 25alocated at the ends of the ledges on the head member are provided toposition and limit the rotation of the filter cartridge to approximatelya quarter turn after insertion into the head member.

A ring member 26 is attached to the lower surface of the laterallyextending plate member 18 by suitable means such as screws 28. The ringmember 26 is formed with a depending skirt, portion 30. At the lower endof the skirt portion 30 radially inwardly directed ledge means 32 areformed defining a circular opening 33 for receiving therethrough thefilter cartridge 16. Oppositely disposed bayonet openings 34a and 34bare formed in the ledge means to accomodate the passage therethrough ofridges or lugs formed on the pressure vessel portion of the filtercartridge when the latter is inserted into the head member.

The head member 14 preferably made of a molded plastic is secured to theupper face of the support member 12 by bolts 35 or other suitable means,a spacer member 36 being positioned between the head member and platemember 18 as a manufacturing accomodation. The head member 14 is formedwith a pair of concentrically disposed bores 38 and 40 which aredesigned to accept the upper end of the filter cartridge. The headmember 14 also is formed with vertically extending inlet and outletports 42 and 44, respectively, which are adapted to be connected in afluid conduit by appropriate plumbing accessories. A hand operated valve46 controls the inlet 42 through activation of the valve lever 48. Acounterbore 50 is formed in the spacer member 36 to accomodate thecartridge supporting lug members formed on the closure member of thefilter cartridge.

The filter cartridge 16 includes a pressure vessel 54, a closure member56, and a filter element 58 disposed in the pressure vessel and attachedto the closure member. The filter cartridge unit may be designed as aunitary disposable unit which can be easily inserted into the headmember 14 and removed therefrom by hand without the use of specialtools. The filter cartridge also may be designed in such a manner thatthe separate parts such as the pressure vessel, closure member andfilter element may be separately replaced if desired.

The pressure vessel 54 may be of metal or plastic and is closed at itslower end. The closure member 56 is sealingly fitted into the open endof the pressure vessel by appropriate means. A pair of laterallyextending ridges or lugs 60 are formed at the upper end of the pressurevessel and these coact with the ledge means 32 on the ring member 26 toretain and secure the filter cartridge in the head member.

The closure member 56 is generally similar to the closure memberdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,746,171 assigned to the same assignee asthis application, but is different in particular in that additionalbayonet lug members are provided on closure member 56 for retaining thefilter cartridge in a head member.

The closure member 56 which preferably is made of a plastic materialincludes an annular rim portion 61 which is the portion sealingly fittedinto the open end of the pressure vessel. The closure member 56 alsoincludes a centrally disposed annular projecting tubular portion 62 ofrelatively larger diameter which is connected to the rim portion 61 byweb portion 63. A tubular portion 64 of relatively smaller diameterextends through and is coaxially disposed with the tubular portion 62and extends axially beyond the tubular portion 62. The tubular portion64 is connected to and secured in the closure member by radiallyextending web portions 66. The tubular portion 64 defines a fluidpassage 68 which in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is an inletfluid passage which communicates with inlet port 42 in the head member14. The relatively larger tubular portion 62 is radially spaced fromtubular portion 64 to define therebetween fluid passage 70 whichcommunicates with outlet port 44 in the head member 14.

O-ring seals 72 and 74 are disposed in recesses 72a and 74a on tubularportions 62 and 64, respectively, to form a seal with bores 40 and 38when the filter cartridge 16 is inserted into the head member 14. Wheninlet fluid enters inlet port 42 and valve 46 is open, it flows intoinlet chamber 76 and then through fluid passageway 68 and into thepressure vessel.

A pair of oppositely disposed bayonet lugs 78 are formed on the outerperiphery of tubular portion 62. These lugs 78 act in cooperation withplate 18 as shown in FIG. 4 to retain the filter cartridge 16 in thehead 14. The lugs 78 are formed with a tapered end 80 to assist inrotating the cartridge approximately 90 degrees to a secured position inthe head member 14. The tapered ends 80 assist the lugs 78 to move intoengagement with the plate-like member 18 of the support member 12 afterthe head member has been inserted through the opening 24.

As best shown in FIG. 7, it will be observed that the lugs 78 on theclosure member 56 and the ridges or protrusions 60 on the pressurevessel lie in the same vertical plane taken through the axis of theclosure member and pressure vessel. Thus, when the filter cartridge hasbeen inserted in the head member, both the lugs 78 resting on the plate18 and the ridges 60 resting on the ledges 32 provide support for filtercartridge in the head member 14.

The filter element in the pressure vessel may be any one of a variety ofsuch elements. One such filter element, for example, may be a folded orpleated filter septum 58 as also disclosed in FIGS. 9 and 12 of U.S.Pat. No. 4,654,142. The filter septum is connected to and supported on aseptum support tube 59. The latter then functions as a support and as anoutlet from the filter septum 58.

The improved filter cartridge 16 has additional advantages. Besidesbeing usable in a head member 14 as shown in FIGS. 1-4 it may also beused with other types of head members as illustrated in FIGS. 9-13 wherethe filtration system as a whole may dictate the use of head members asthere shown.

In FIGS. 9-10 there is shown a head member 114 which is only slightlydifferent than the head member 14 shown in FIG. 3. Head 114 of FIGS. 9and 10 does not carry a ring member 26 so that the ridges 60 on thepressure vessel do not provide any support. The filter cartridge issupported in the head member by the bayonet lugs 78 which rest on theledges 125 defined by the circular opening in the laterally extendingplate-like member 118 of the support member 112 which is the same assupport member 12 shown in FIGS. 1-4, 6.

In FIG. 11 another type of head member 214 is shown. The filtercartridge 16 is supported in head member 214 in the same manner as inthe embodiment of FIG. 10. Only the lugs 78 on the closure member 56 ofthe filter cartridge are used to support the latter in the head memberby coacting with the ledges formed by the opening 224.

The head member 214 preferably made of a molded plastic and of generallyannular construction is secured to the upper face of the bracket member212 by bolts or other suitable means. Here again the head member 214 isformed with concentrically disposed internal bores 238 and 240 forreceiving the upper end of the closure member 56 defining the tubularportions 64 and 62, respectively. The head member also is formed withhorizontally disposed inlet and outlet ports 242 and 244 which areadapted to be connected in a fluid conduit by appropriate plumbingaccessories. The inlet port 242 communicates with bore 238 and fluidpassage 68 formed in the closure member 56. The outlet port 244communicates with bore 240 and outlet fluid passage 70 formed in theclosure member.

In FIG. 12 another slightly different form of head member 314 is shown.It is most like the head member of FIG. 11, the primary difference beingthat the inlet and outlet ports 342 and 344, respectively, are bothformed to one side of the head member. Here again the lugs 78 on theclosure member are used to support the filter cartridge on the ledges325 provided by the circular opening 324 in the plate member 318 towhich the head member 314 is secured by bolts or other suitable means.Here again the head member 314 is formed with concentrically disposedbores 338 and 340 for receiving the upper end of the closure member 56defining the tubular portions 64 and 62, respectively. The inlet port342 communicates with bore 338 and fluid passage 68 formed in theclosure member 56. The outlet port 344 communicates with bore 340 andoutlet fluid passage 70 formed in the closure member.

In FIG. 13 still another form of head member 414 is shown. This headmember basically is similar to the head member disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 3,746,171. In this particular head member the lugs 78 on the closuremember are inactive insofar as supporting the cartridge in the head isconcerned. The filter cartridge 16 is held in place in the head memberby the coaction of the ridges or lugs 60 on the pressure vessel andledges 432 formed on a clamping collar 482. This clamping collar isadapted to move axially on the annular skirt 484 by means of cooperatingcam structure (not shown) on the collar 482 and skirt 484.

Further hydrostatic tests on units as shown in FIGS. 4 and 13 havedemonstrated additional advantages. Pressure tests show that inassemblies as shown in FIGS. 4 and 13, i.e., where lugs 60 are used tohelp support the cartridge in the filter head, as pressure builds up itacts on the underside of the rim portion 61 of the closure member whichis secured in the upper end of the pressure vessel. With the particularconstruction as shown in FIG. 4 the pressure vessel is supported in thering member 30 by the lugs 60 which rest on the ledges 32. As thepressure builds up in the pressure vessel it tends both to force thepressure vessel downwardly and the closure member upwardly. The lugs 60,of course, prevent the downward movement of the pressure vessel out ofits supported position. The pressure also acting on the underside of therim portion 61 of the closure member tends to move the closure memberslightly upwardly but this upward movement is impeded by the lugs 78,the upper surface 79 of which, during the upward movement, abuts againstthe shoulder 51 defined by the counterbore 50 formed in the head asshown in FIG. 4 thus limiting the overall upward movement of the closuremember. With any substantial increases in pressure, if it were not forthe lugs 78 abutting against the shoulder 51, the closure member maytend to move further upwardly and out of the pressure vessel, in theprocess bending or fracturing the rolled over portion 55 of the pressurevessel with leakage resulting. The lugs 78, however, limit such upwardmovement of the closure member. As a result, the pressure integrity ofthe pressure vessel is enchanced by 40% to 50%. It has been found, forexample, that hydrostatic pressures of approximately 750 p.s.i. could beattained, while in structures without the lugs 78 pressures of onlyabout 500 p.s.i. could be achieved before fracture of the upper end ofthe pressure vessel resulted with attendant leakage.

While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have beendisclosed, it will be appreciated that these are shown by way of exampleonly, and the invention is not to be limited thereto as other variationswill be apparent to those skilled in the art and the invention is to begiven its fullest interpretation within the terms of the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A filter cartridge for insertion into a filterhead having fluid inlet and outlet ports and adapted to be permanentlymounted in a fluid conduit comprising:(a) a pressure vessel closed atone end and adapted to have a filter element disposed therein; (b) aclosure member in sealed relationship with the open end of said pressurevessel,said closure member being formed with inlet and outlet portstherein for communicating with inlet and outlet ports in a filter headwith which the filter cartridge is adapted to be associated, saidclosure member also being formed with a pair of unequal diameterconcentrically disposed axially projecting tubular portions which defineinlet and outlet ports to and from the pressure vessel, one of saidtubular portions extending axially beyond the other; (c) a first pair oflaterally extending oppositely disposed lug members formed on the outersurface of said pressure vessel; (d) a second pair of laterallyextending oppositely disposed lug members formed on the outer surface ofthe tubular portion having the larger diameter; and (e) means formed onsaid second pair of lug members for coacting with a portion of a filterhead with which the filter cartridge is adapted to be associated, saidmeans formed on said second pair of lug members being adapted tofunction in coaction with a filter head to restrict potential axialmovement during operation and under pressure of said closure memberrelative to said pressure vessel.
 2. A filter cartridge for insertioninto a filter head adapted to be permanently mounted in a fluid conduitcomprising:a pressure vessel adapted to have a filter element disposedtherein; a closure member in sealed relationship with the open end ofsaid pressure vessel, said closure member being a generally annularshaped body and includingan annular rim portion and first and secondtubular portions, said three portions all being coaxially disposed, aweb portion interconnecting said rim portion and said second tubularportion, said second tubular portion extending axially beyond said rimportion, and said first tubular portion extending axially beyond saidsecond tubular portion, said first and second tubular portions beingradially spaced from each other to define an opening therebetween, saidfirst tubular portion also defining an opening therethrough, saidopenings defining inlet and outlets ports to lead to and from thepressure vessel; a first pair of laterally extending lug membersassociated with the outer surface of said pressure vessel; a second pairof laterally extending lug members associated with the outer surface ofsaid closure member; and means formed on said second pair of lug membersassociated with the outer surface of said closure member for coactingwith a portion of a filter head with which the filter cartridge isadapted to be associated, said means formed on said second pair of lugmembers being adapted to function in coaction with a filter head torestrict potential axial movement during operation and under pressure ofsaid closure member relative to said pressure vessel.
 3. In a filterassembly the combination comprising:(a) a head member adapted to bedisposed in a fluid conduit and adapted to have a filter cartridgeinserted thereinto, said head member including annular bore means formedtherein and inlet and outlet ports formed therein and communicating withsaid annular bore means; (b) a filter cartridge including(1) a pressurevessel closed at one end and adapted to have a filter element disposedtherein, (2) a closure member in sealed relationship with the open endof said pressure vessel, said closure member being formed with twoconcentrically disposed axially projecting portions, one portionprojecting beyond the other, and including inlet and outlet portstherein for communicating with the inlet and outlet ports in said headmember, (3) a first pair of laterally extending oppositely disposed lugmembers disposed on the outer surface of said pressure vessel near theupper end thereof, (4) a second pair of laterally extending oppositelydisposed lug members disposed on the outer surface of the largerdiameter projection on said closure member; (c) means associated withsaid head member for coacting with at least one of said pairs of lugmembers for supporting said filter cartridge in said head member; and(d) means formed on said head member for coacting with said lug membersformed on the outer surface of said closure member for restrictingpotential axial movement during operation and under pressure of theclosure member relative to the pressure vessel.
 4. The combination ofclaim 3 whereinsaid means formed on said head member restricts thepotential upward axial movement of the closure member relative to thepressure vessel.
 5. The combination of claim 3 whereinsaid means formedon said head member comprises abutment means with which said lug membersmay coact.